Cutting Banks Carpet Underfelt

[4129R]

I hated fitting the underfelt to the whole inside before fitting the Banks carpets.

The carpets are easy to cut, but I was always getting blisters from cutting the underfelt.

Today I worked out if you cut the black side, not the light brown side, with a sharp Stanley knife, 4 cuts on a wooden surface, you don't need to get blisters from scissors etc.

I just have to look forward to glue sniffing tomorrow. When you do the footwells, it does get a bit hard to breathe clearly when doing the fiddly bits at the end.   

[Kendo]

Would you be willing to post some pictures of the process? Installing the felt and carpet have not been covered as much as many other topics.

[4129R]

As the underfelt is black side up, photos do not show anything of value.

For the underfelt I start with the floor below the seat, cut holes for the seat runners fixings using a flat bit drill to loosen the weave up, then scissors to get the right oval shape.

Then I do the rear bulkhead to the engine/seat back. Just the two side bottom bits, there is none on the big side to side part covered with the hardboard/plywood panel.

Then I do the side for the transmission tunnel. You have to cut a round hole for the seat belt to chassis centre bolt.

Then the strip below the door.

I cut the big pieces first, so there are plenty of off-cuts for the smaller pieces down the footwell.

I use spray contact adhesive on both surfaces, and wait about 2 mins before fitting.

The hard part is getting the holes in the right places for the seat belt mountings, especially if they are stuck fast in the sill below the door.

Use disposable gloves when gluing as it gets everywhere, and you have to use petrol to get the glue off your hands. Add the smell of the glue sniffing, and you get a headache.

On two of my chassis off restorations, I have had big trouble re-fitting the bolts for the seat belts into the centre chassis. Despite the front and rear bolts lining up to secure the chassis to the body, those two holes just did not line up. I had to over drill the holes to about 15mm, and then put a tap into the chassis tube to get the thread clean. I used wedges from underneath to push the fibreglass of the tunnel away from the chassis to give a slight gap between the aluminium bobbin set in to the body, so I did not drill into the threaded tube welded side to side in the chassis which is the centre anchor for the seat belts.  Those two bolts now go in easily.

[Kendo]

You are right, a description of the steps makes more sense than pictures of black. Thanks for that.

My car's body had ovals ground around the seatbelt mounts. Now I know why.

How to you treat the area around the pedals? My car had no carpet around there. So I don't have a model. Does the carpet and underlayment go under the pedals (requiring they be unbolted), or is it cut around the base?

[4129R]

You are right, a description of the steps makes more sense than pictures of black. Thanks for that.

My car's body had ovals ground around the seatbelt mounts. Now I know why.

How to you treat the area around the pedals? My car had no carpet around there. So I don't have a model. Does the carpet and underlayment go under the pedals (requiring they be unbolted), or is it cut around the base?

It is much easier to fit the carpet at the vertical end with the 2 pedals removed. Don't put any carpet or underlay under those pedals.

Make sure there is clearance around the throttle pedal. You may need to not put any underlay on the vertical side and just put carpet there if it hits the pedal. 

The exact fit of the underlay does not matter, but cut the carpet slightly bigger, and then just cut it down if necessary. When cutting the carpet take your time as gaps will get noticed.

You will also need to cut around the clutch cable bracket on the side of the tunnel.

When putting any deadening felt on the chassis before bolting it to the chassis, do not use thick felt or the body will be too high on the chassis leading to problems getting those bolts in for the seat belts on the tunnel side. I had to jack the car up under the chassis directly under those bolt holes, and use a G clamp on the oval access hole to push the body down on the chassis to get the bolts to fit on one car.

Do not put underfelt around the edge where the rubber door seal goes, as the door seal will only fit over the carpet. I use a filler knife to flatten the carpet when fitting the rubber seal, and a wooden mallet to gently bash the rubber into place. You will see there is a lip or change in level in the fibreglass around the rubber area where the underfelt should not be fitted.

[Bryan Boyle]

You are right, a description of the steps makes more sense than pictures of black. Thanks for that.

My car's body had ovals ground around the seatbelt mounts. Now I know why.

How to you treat the area around the pedals? My car had no carpet around there. So I don't have a model. Does the carpet and underlayment go under the pedals (requiring they be unbolted), or is it cut around the base?

Most carpet sets do not require that you cut out around the pedal mounts on the floor (the side bump out for lower arm clearance notwithstanding).  If you think about it, you probably don't want the pedal assembly, which is prone to disassociating into iron oxide and dust even without encouragement to be covered or mounted on a water absorbent material like carpet or felt.  So...the floor carpet (and underlayment) on the pilot side ends before the pedals.

The front wall and tunnel way down there, however, may mean for ease of installing sake, that the pedals be removed.  I've done it both ways in a few cars; def easier without the pedals in there (which means you can clean them up and soak the base in oil to try and get some lube in there...(why they didn't put zerks on the damn thing, I'll never know)

My $.03 (for inflation)

[RafM]

I have a few pictures of the the sound deadening and carpet trimming in my car.

The carpet & underfelt was from Banks. The sound deadening is easier to cut with a sharp craft knife, I started around the sides and finished
with the floor areas, just make up the shapes to fit as you go along. I used a spreadable contact adhesive for the felt and spray type for the carpet.

As has already been mentioned, trim the felt away from the door openings as the rubbers will not fit, it's still a tight fit with only the carpet and I used a
rubber headed mallet to knock the door rubber down tightly.

The carpet from Banks is not great quality, I have an industrial sewing machine and made some alterations, I also trimmed the edges with vinyl and made
some over-mats the same colour as the car as a finishing touch. I did put a piece in behind the pedals and it's fine.

Raf.

[4129R]

Banks carpet is slightly too narrow behind the seat, and there is a 9" x 4" piece missing from the footwell which you can make from the excess from the large wide bit used for behind your heads, attached to the board, the interior light and the map pocket.

There is enough carpet in the Banks to go around, but the annoying bit is behind the seats, so probably would not get noticed.

[BDA]

Great work, RafM!

For those in the States (I would guess they ship internationally) and just want to buy a quality carpet kit, I recommend AutoMat (https://autointeriors.biz/). They have a wide range of colors and piles and can also embroider the Lotus roundel on the mats.

[Bryan Boyle]

Great work, RafM!

For those in the States (I would guess they ship internationally) and just want to buy a quality carpet kit, I recommend AutoMat (https://autointeriors.biz/). They have a wide range of colors and piles and can also embroider the Lotus roundel on the mats.

+1 for Automat.  Have used them a couple times (including 3291R for the floor mats...the rest will come later) and have been satisfied each time with both quality and delivery speed.

[Kendo]

I think they provide the underlayment too. Were you satisfied with that?